Entering the Shadows
by ShadeOfTomorow
Summary: Hiccup's world, which was normally so baisic, is being turned head over heals in a desperate fight for his life and the lives of those he loves.  Even with the help of some new friends the future is not so clear.  Rated T just to be safe.
1. The Beginning

**A/N- So, first story ever. I really don't know how this is going to turn out, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Anyways, here is the first chapter in the Elementals series.**

**Hiccup's POV**

This is Berk, a few days north of hopeless and two degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village, in a word sturdy, and it's been here for several generations but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see most places have mice or mosquitoes, we have…

Dragons.

Most people would leave, not us though we're Vikings; we have stubbornness issues. My name's Hiccup, great name I know. But it's not the worst. Vikings believe a hideous name will frighten off the gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.

But enough of the history lesson, I have important work to do.

Ok not really, I'm just an apprentice under Gobber, the blacksmith. I keep the weapons sharp and fix the broken ones. And when there is a dragon attack I'm more busy than a bee in spring. That is if I can get to the smithy. Right turn at the well, up the stairs, and a bright light suddenly fills my vision as I hear a voice.

"Stop!"

The voice is so commanding that I immediately stop just before a Monstrous Nightmare charges past the turn that I was just about to enter. I turn around to see who it was that saved my life … nobody, not a single person around. I shrug my shoulders and add a voice in my head to the steadily growing number of things that make me the exact opposite of a Viking, along with being made of nothing more than bones and gristle, and not being able to wield a hammer, or any kind of reliable weapon for that matter, to save my life.

Running through the path that had just been occupied by the dragon I entered into the fringe of the fight.

"What the heck! Why is the fight always between me and the smithy!"

"Don't worry; I'll guide you through it safely."

There is that freaking voice in my head again. I sighed and moved on. It has already saved by butt once; I guess I can keep trusting it. I dodged my way between dragons, following the voice in my head and slowly making it to the smithy.

"See, I told you that I would get you here safely."

I ignored the voice and entered the workshop where Gobber was already working on a sward that had been almost bent in half.

"Ho, ho, nice of you to join the party. I thought you had been carried off."

"Who, me? Nah, come on I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all … this."

"Well they need toothpicks don't they?"

Typical Gobber, always berating me for being late. As we banter back and forth I grab a pile of broken weapons that the Vikings had placed on the counter and stumble over to the furnace to melt them so that they can be re-forged into new weapons. I take a peak outside and see three houses being attacked by dragons. All three are burning to the ground, as I said, old village, new houses.

Over by the water casket is Fishlegs, Snoutlout, the twins Rufnutt and Tuffnut, and, I felt my heart skip a beat, Astrid. They each grab a bucket and throw water on the burning houses to try and save at least a few of them. Astrid throws her bucket and just as she turns to face me a fireball explodes behind her. She's so perfect.

"Their job is so much cooler than mine."

I almost get over the counter before I feel Gobber's pincers grab me by the back of my shirt.

"Oh no you don't."

"Come on, let me out please, I need to make my mark."

"You've made plenty of marks all in the wrong places."

"Please just two minutes, I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better, I might even get a date."

"You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these."

Gobber lifts the weapon in question and a Viking comes up behind him and grabs it out of his hand and throws it at a dragon off in the distance. I hear a crash outside and know that my new invention, three rocks tied together by lengths of rope used to bring down flying dragons without killing anything that they might be holding, is successful. Do I get any credit though, no, so now I'm bringing out my secret weapon.

"Ok, fine, but this will throw it for me."

I pat my newest invention, a giant mobile slingshot that could fling objects at speeds that only the strongest of Vikings could possibly muster. Of course as I pat it, it backfires and hurls a rock straight into one of the Vikings at the counter.

"See, now this right here is what I'm talking about."

"Um, uh, mild calibration issues…"

"Hiccup, if you ever want to get out there to fight dragons you need to stop all, this."

"But you just pointed to all of me."

"Yes, that's it, stop being all of you."

"Oh, y-you sir are playing a dangerous game, keeping this much raw Vikingness contained. There will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances. Sword, sharpen, now."

One day I'll get out there, because killing a dragon is everything around here. There's Naderheads, Gronkles, Zipplebacks, and Monstrous Nightmares. But what I'm going for is the one dragon that no one has ever killed before. Heck, no one has ever even seen it before. It's black as night and flies around during an attack. It never steals sheep, never shows itself, and never misses, the only sign that it has is the telltale shriek right before it fires. Oh, and its supernova like breath that can demolish even our most powerful catapults in just a few hits. Just then I hear the shriek and watch as the newly installed trebuchet explodes in a concussive blast that could only be from one dragon, the Nightfury.

"Man the fort, Hiccup, they need me out there. Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean, yahhh!"

"Grab that contraption of yours and go, now. There's no telling when that thing will strike next and you need to be ready when it does. Go, don't worry the fight is winding down anyway they won't need new weapons. This is your time."

I look at my invention, the voice was right, this is my time. And anyway it had never steered me wrong in the ten minutes that I had known it.

"I'm a guy, by the way."

Correction, in the ten minutes that I had known him. I grab my invention and wheel it out of the smithy and head to the bluff that gives me the best view of the trebuchet, or at least what is left of it. I set up my invention and wait.

"Be patient it will attack again."

"Voice, I can do this."

"Oh, right, sorry … on your right now!"

I aim right and pull the trigger just as the concussive blast from the Nightfury throws me backwards. I get up and listen as I hear the Nightfury get caught in the ropes and cry out. I see a dark shape falling into the woods somewhere.

"I hit it! Yes I hit it, did anybody see that?"

"Yes, I did now run!"

I heard a crunch behind me and look around to see a Monstrous Nightmare standing on my invention.

"Anyone but you."

I turn around running and screaming as the Nightmare charges after me. The voice in my head keeps yelling at me to go faster. Eventually it says something useful and tells me to hide behind one of the torch towers that we use to light up the night sky during dragon raids. When I do the Nightmare breaths out a river of liquid fire, and I am only saved by the breaker that the pole has now become.

"Alright, quickly, go left around the pole and to the alleyway."

I try to follow the voice but my feet won't move.

"Now is not the time to become paralyzed by fear."

Suddenly the chief of the tribe jumps at the Nightmare that was just about to take a bite out of me. The Nightmare tries the liquid ire trick again, but all he manages is a small squirt of lava, he was out of juice. The chief, who's name is Stoic, began punching the dragon with his bare fists and after a few hits the Nightmare flies off.

"Whoa, who is that guy?"

The pillar that I had hid behind burnt all the way through and fell down, detaching the actual torch on top and having it roll down through the village, almost crushing people, destroying houses, and setting a group of Naderheads free from their net carrying the last of our flock of sheep with them. Well voice, your about to get your answer.

"Sorry, dad."

"Oh … were in trouble aren't we."

"Ok, but I hit a Nightfury."

Dad grabs me and begins to haul me over to Gobber.

"It's not like the last few times, I mean actually hit it. You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot, it went down just off Raven Point, let's get a search party out there before…"

"Stop! Just stop."

My dad has this booming voice that must come with being almost seven feet tall with a chest the size of a cart, and arms and legs the size of a barrel.

"Every time you step outside disaster falls. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed."

"Between you and me the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?"

"This isn't a joke Hiccup! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

"I can't stop myself, I see a dragon and I just have to kill it, it's who I am dad."

"You're many things Hiccup, but a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house, and make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up."

My dad hands me off to Gobber and I just follow him as he leads me away towards my home on the fringe of the village near the woods. Completely deflated I don't even have a smart retort for the multitude of people that mock me as if I am being led down the gauntlet. When I had failed I could take it because I knew that I deserved it for not succeeding, but I had actually hit it this time and nobody even listened to me.

"But you did hit it, I know. And it is out there, somewhere, you just have to find it."

Thanks, voice. I think about how proud my dad will be if I actually find that Nightfury that I had brought down. If that happened, then everything would change.

**A/N- How was it? Did you like it? I kept close to the storyline… for now. Anyways R&R please, I'm kind of nervous and could really use some help to find any mistakes / make things better.**


	2. The Nightfury

**A/N- Thanks to all of you readers out there. Second chapter in my little series, I made this one a little shorter, which do you like better more, shorter chapters or less chapters but more substance per chapter? Anyways here it is, Chapter 2.**

**By the way, forgot to add this in the first chapter but contrary to popular belief I do not actually own HTTYD or any of the original characters.**

**Hiccup POV**

"I just want to be one of you guys."

I shut the door on Gobber and stood in my living room thinking about my life. Gobber, seemingly my only friend on this God forsaken rock, had just finished giving one of his 'pep talks' to me.

"Now you're thinkin' about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like; it's what's inside that he can't stand. Look, the point is: stop trying so hard to be something your not."

"Look here, he does have a point. You are an inventor not a barbarian. You use your mind to get the job done and not your muscles. Eventually you will probably be better off then most of them just as long as you don't give up. And right now you need to not give up on that dragon that you downed in the forest. Grab some paper and something to write with and let's go scour the woods until we find it."

The voice is right, I don't have time to sit here and mope. I have a dragon to find. I go up to my room and find my journal and some charcoal to write with and leave out the back door and go strait into the woods. I know it went down somewhere around Raven Point, so if I do a zigzag sweep on a one mile radius I should find something or other that will lead me to my dragon, my Nightfury.

"Ugh, the Gods hate me. Some people loose their knife in a mug, no not me; I manage to loose an entire dragon!"

It's already been five hours and I've expanded my search to a two and a half mile radius and I still haven't found anything that would even indicate that a dragon crashed here. I take twenty more steps and cross out another spot on my makeshift map of the area. So far I have crossed out a hundred and eighty three spots and if I get to two hundred I'm going to call it a day and go home.

"A hundred ninety nine, nope nothing here either. Great all of that time wasted on my stupid dream of being like a Viking and maybe getting a girlfriend. Oh well, here's two hundred."

I sighed, then got mad and scribbled all over my map.

"Hey, were going to need that if you want to try again tomorrow as well."

"Come on voice what's the use? I'm never going to find that dragon. For all we know it could be lying at the bottom of the ocean or it could have snapped the ropes and flown away."

I violently slapped at a low lying branch in front of me and was immediately hit by its recoil. I yelped very un-Viking like and was about to snap it off at the trunk when I saw that what I had thought was a branch was actually part of the trunk; it was shattered in half. It looked like something had fallen from the sky and shredded the tree. I looked around and saw a large ditch traveling away from the tree.

"What did you say about never finding that dragon?"

I couldn't respond. I was too awestruck at what I was seeing right before my eyes. I walked over to the ditch and slid down it to where it dropped off the side of a small cliff. I went over to the drop and looked over the edge. I saw a large black object with wings and immediately knew that I was less than ten feet away from one of the most deadly dragons that the Vikings had ever known, the Nightfury. I went flat on my stomach and scrambled away from the edge. I waited for a few moments and when I didn't hear anything move I crept towards the ledge again and took another look at the dragon. It didn't seem to be moving but I grabbed my knife out of my jacket just to be safe.

"That's it? I thought dragons were supposed to be big. This thing is no bigger than a horse, and a small one at that. Besides I don't think its moving anytime soon because of your ropes, so you probably won't need that dagger. Just go up to it, I want to get a better look at it."

I slid down the small rise and hid behind a rock, with my dagger still out, just incase the voice was wrong, or the only reason the dragon was not moving was because it had decided to take a nap. I shuffled my way around the rock I was hiding behind until I could get a good look at the dragon. It definitely was not moving and I had a sudden rush of euphoria.

"Oh wow, I-I-I did it. I did it, this fixes everything. Yes! I have brought down this mighty beast!"

I placed my foot on its head in a classic Viking victory pose and the dragon growled and shook in the ropes. I jumped back screaming and held out my dagger in the weakest defense stance ever. I placed my back against the rock that I used to be hiding behind and waited for the dragon to rip through the rope and barbeque me in seconds flat but the ropes held and the dragon just stayed there.

"Come on Hiccup, look at it. It's completely tied up, and there's no way that it is going to get out without help."

"S-S-So? What is that supposed to mean?"

"So it means that you can get right up next to it and nothing will happen. Your invention worked, immobilize the target without killing it, right?"

"Yea, but I never thought I would actually find it alive. I thought it would have died from the fall. This dragon may be small but it sends our village into hell whenever it starts attacking."

As I was arguing with the voice inside my head the dragon kept squirming in its ropes until it could look at me with its eyes. It had those large puppy eyes that looked just as frightened as I felt. It was frightened of me. I had scared it witless and it was practically screaming at me with those eyes to let it go.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. I guess I should probably just kill it and bring it's heart to my father and finally he will have a reason to be proud of me…"

"But?"

"But, I can't"

I lowered the knife from where it poised over the dragon's heart and took another look at its face. Those big deep eyes that were pleading me to not kill it. If it hadn't been for me none of this would ever have happened.

"What are you going to do now?"

That is a good question. What am I going to do? I can't kill it, but I can't just leave it here either. There was only one choice. I raised my knife and began cutting the ropes that tied up the dragon. It seemed surprised as the tension of the ropes loosened and it was able to move more freely. I cut the last of the ropes and hardly had time to think about what I just did before the dragon turned on me and slammed me against the rock with his claws around my neck. Suddenly there was a blindingly white light and I closed my eyes against what I thought was the Nightfury about to incinerate me. Then I heard a voice outside of my head that sounded distinctly familiar to the one that was inside my head.

"Stop!"

Yep, definitely the same voice.

"He freed you, you don't have to kill him, he's on your side now."

With that I felt a gust of wind and opened my eyes to see the dragon erratically flying off through the trees and slamming into most of them on the way. Also with his hand outstretched to help me up was a guy dressed in dark blue pants, a black shirt, and some kind of thick long-sleeved brown jacket. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up to my feet, however they had obviously not received that information yet because they wouldn't support my weight and I slumped on the ground. The guy grabbed my arms again and picked me up, this time supporting most of my weight until my feet got the memo that I was standing up.

"It looks like someone is still in shock. It's ok, I guess I would be in shock too if that happened to me."

"You're the voice in my head aren't you."

"Yes I was the one helping you out back during the skirmish."

"What? Who? How?"

My voice was giving out on me as another spout of paralysis shock spread through my body.

"It's a little bit of a story but I think we have time. It's not going to get dark for another hour or so."

A/N- Ok, so shorter chapter, if I do more of these I might post two per week instead of one. Like? Don't like? R&R, its easy just click and type. And I'm thinking of adding previews of what the next chapter is going to be on, like this.

Summary- Who is this guy and how did he get stuck inside Hiccup's head anyway? Is there a villain, a damsel in distress, because you know there always has to be a damsel in distress. And what is with that white light showing up? Look for Chapter 3 of Entering the Shadows, coming to a website near you.


	3. Shade's Story

**A/N- Alright, so OC name and background story. Tried to keep it fairly interesting. I changed up Hiccup's personality a little bit. Don't worry, he's still wimpy for now, just very curious and talkative. Anyways, I own nothing but my own work, so don't kill me, please.**

**Shade POV**

"I think that I came from another world or dimension or something…"

"Wait a sec, I don't even know your name."

"Fine, hi my name is Shade. That better?"

"Yes actually it is."

"I was training with my friend before it happened."

"Does your friend have a name?"

"No, you're kind of talkative for someone who is supposed to be frightened out of his wits. Anyway as I said I was training with her when-"

"So your friend is a girl, huh"

"You know I don't have to tell you the story."

"Ok, ok, fine, I'll keep quiet."

"So where was I, ah yes training. She had asked me over to her house to help her practice her staff training. She had her favorite six foot quarter-staff and I sparred with her using all of the weapons that were in her arsenal. All of her weapons were rounded so that the edges were blunt instead of sharp so that we would not kill ourselves training each other. If they were sharp I doubt that her parents would even allow her to touch them for fear of someone getting their arm cut off. I started the same as her, staff, except for my staff was six and a half. Then I went through the weapons including a mace, axe, tali-kata, katana, and many other close combat weapons. I saved my favorite weapon choice for last, dual swards. In my left hand, a short katana, and in my right, a dual-bladed long-sword that was deceptively light for its size. We were about five minutes into the spar and we had both gotten one touch out of three. That's when this guy with a gun broke down the door and immediately shot my friend in the neck with a tranquilizer dart. She went down, asleep before she even hit the floor, and he aimed his gun at me. I acted more on instinct than conscious thought and rolled towards him and used the short katana in my left hand to knock his gun out of his hand while the sword in my right went for his head. I was able to hit the gun out of his hand but his off hand grabbed a sword on his back and blocked my long-sword. He then went on the offensive holding his blade in both hands and forcing me to retreat into a corner while trying unsuccessfully to block his attacks blow for blow. His sword moved at speeds that would make a ninja look slow and for every block that I made he was able to get his sword through my defenses and nick me on the shoulder or chest. His sword, unlike mine, was sharp and every time his sword touched my skin blood flowed. After only a minute of this barrage I had received hundreds of cuts and my arms were crying out in agony. After a fury of swipes from my enemy he disarmed me completely, with one sword stuck in the roof, the other laying somewhere in the hallway through the broken down door. Unwilling to give up, I lunged for him before he could swing a fatal blow and closed the gap between us to hand fighting range. I grabbed his shirt and placed one arm on his neck, but he just threw his sword behind him and grabbed both my arms. In a single fluid motion he dislocated my left arm out of its socket and slammed my right arm against his knee, breaking it in two. He then kicked my shin and shattered it while sending his thigh into my ribcage and breaking at least three ribs. I collapsed onto the floor and he kicked my face with his feet and the last thing that I saw was him grabbing my friend and dragging her out the door without looking back. Then the world faded to black and I just lied there in pain until I saw a white light floating in front of my eyes. I though that I was dead and I was going to heaven, but a soft and caring voice, definitely female, said

"Your time is not up yet. You still have many great things to do in both your world and ours. So wake, my shade, and with this power help your friends, and protect them when they cannot protect themselves."

Then the light faded and I was bodiless, floating over you while you ran to the blacksmith. I don't know why but for some reason I knew what you wanted to get to and how you were supposed to get there. The rest you know, and I promise you I know nothing about who attacked me or why, all I know is that he is evil, and he has my friend."

"So what just happened, with the white light and all? Did she talk to you again? What did she say?"

"Nothing much, only two things: when one life meets another, a third is born, and that I am the bridge."

"The bridge, what is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to find out later. Anyways it is growing dark, have you gotten over your shock yet."

"Yea I think so, you can follow me back to my village. We can think of an explanation on the way back."

As Hiccup leads me to his village I wonder who that woman in the white light is and why she has such an interest in me. I know that she did something to me, but how exactly, I don't know.

**A/N- Hero? Check. Villain? Check. Damsel in distress? Well… not really the typical damsel and probably not in distress, just in danger, so maybe: Kick ass girl in danger. I didn't name the other two OC's because I have no idea what to name them. Ideas anyone? Then review.**

**Summary- Will this woman in the white light ever show herself? Was shade telling the entire story about his encounters? Who is lying and who is telling the truth?**


	4. Lies?

**A/N- Alright so I started back in school so bear with me here. I'll try to keep a steady update going but there will probably be many weeks in which I just don't have enough time. To you people out there who are going to get mad, don't, I will try my best to keep up the pace but we all know how school is. And maybe I won't be absolutely crushed by homework and school taking up eight hours of my life every day. Anyways here is this week's chapter.**

**Shade's POV**

Right now I'm waiting for Hiccup to open the shutters and let me into the house. We were going to sneak through the window and bypass his father completely, but the shutters were closed and locked from the inside. So Hiccup went in through the front door planning to let me in right away. But his dad was waiting for him and they're still talking. I can hear something about dragons and an arena. I'm not usually an eavesdropper but I could hear every word that they said as if I was standing right there with them. What was it that white woman said, "The shadows will be your ally, use them as your tool and you will become strong." Something about her isn't right. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that she saved me and all but something just isn't adding up. She called herself the white mage, then why are all my powers coming from the shadows and darkness? In time I will tell Hiccup the entire story of what happened, but first I have to figure it out myself.

**(Flashback)**

As Hiccup cuts the last rope the dragon lunges at him. Then another flash of white light, like the first one when I was dying, and I look to see a woman standing in front of me. She wears a white dress that comes down to the middle of her thighs and a white hooded robe that just grazes the floor in a zigzag pattern. She pulls her hood back and her hair rolls down to the middle of her back. Her hair is so white that it practically has a radiance of its own and her skin is as pale as alabaster, almost translucent, as if I could look right through her. When she speaks she hardly opens her mouth and her words flow like honey, thick and sweet.

"You should be dead."

"Thanks for reminding me."

"I saved you so that you could save this world from a disaster. My brother is becoming too powerful and I need you to fight against him. I have given you power and when the dragon and the boy touched it created a third life that you could inhabit. You bridge the gap between human and dragon and only you can save both."

"What happened to my friend? Where is she?"

"She has been taken captive by my brother and he is holding her captive. He plans to turn her into his slave, turn her into his pawn that he can use to dominate this world. You are my counter to his move. In bringing someone from your world he allowed me to do the same. He chose your friend, I chose you. After he breaks her he plans to give her powers like I have done to you. He will use her to mount an attack of the fiercest dragons against the humans. You must kill the dragons and stop her before she can gain her strength back from the tortures that my brother has put her through."

"I will find her but I will not kill her, she will be saved."

"That is your decision to make, but be warned, her memories may be erased when you see her next. She will probably not remember you. You must disregard all of your history together and attack her, and if necessary kill her. You must use your power over the shadows and kill her before she kills you, and you doom the entire world to ruin. The shadows are your ally, use them as a tool and you will become stronger than her, destroy her, and defeat my brother."

"She will not give in. She will last until I come for her."

"You have no idea what my brother can do. His potions are the most powerful in the world. No matter what she can stand he will always have more, and each new one attacks a different part of the body so that the victim can never grow numb to the pain. It never stops and never ends. Once one part of the body grows numb then he moves on to the next in an endless cycle of torture. Eventually, probably sooner than later, she will break under his will and she will be his slave, his pawn, forever."

"I will not let that happen."

"It has already started, and believe me, nothing other than breaking to his will can stop it. She is doomed. If she is still being tortured now, she has lasted longer than most."

"Stop saying that. She will last and I will save her, no matter what."

"Idiot boy! Take my gifts and go, I have no more use for you. You will die by her hands and then you will realize that I was right, but then you will be too late."

She waves her hand at me and a searing pain goes through my forearms and shoulders. I clench my eyes shut until the pain ceases. When I open them again I am back in my own body and I stand in front of Hiccup.

**(End Flashback)**

I don't know whether or not I can trust this woman. She seems to know a lot about me and she did save me, but she might be lying about everything as well. For all I know she is trying to trick me into killing something that might actually be on my side. I'll wait it out for now and see what happens next. I have a feeling that this boy and that dragon will be important.

"Yo, Shade. Earth to Shade do you come in?"

"What?"

"Do you want a place to sleep or what?"

"Oh, yea, sorry I was kind of preoccupied."

"Yea I can tell, anyways my dad is going on a trip to try and find the dragon's nest so we won't have to worry about him. Unfortunately he has signed me up for dragon training with the other teens in the village."

"Wait, he wants you to kill dragons? Like the same kind of creature that you just set free?"

"Yep."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go to sleep, get up in the morning, and go to dragon training. What else can I do?"

"Good point, well let's get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day."

**A/N- I hate school! Oh well, this is a nice break from the monotony of school since I actually want to do this. Anyways that is chapter four, hope you like it. And by the way I made the weekend cut, so still going strong.**

**Summary- When Shade wakes up he will have something that he didn't bargain for, first day of dragon training as well. Will Shade join Hiccup in his training or will he just watch Hiccup from the outside?**


	5. Gifts?

**A/N- I really hate school; I have so much work to do I don't even know what to do first. Anyway here is the next chapter…not that any of you care…because if you did than you would review…but you don't…so you don't care (sniffle). I don't own HTTYD or any of its characters. I do own my OCs though.**

**Shade's POV**

I know that I am dreaming but it feels so real. I'm back home. I wake up to the smell of pancakes and my stomach rumbling. I throw on some clothes and practically trip over my own feet to get down stairs. When I get down I run to a table devoid of people. The only thing on the table is a plate stacked at least a foot high with pancakes. I guessed that my parents had already left for work, so I grabbed the entire plate and jumped in my car, turned the key in the ignition, and pulled out of my driveway. It was at least an hour to get to my school and so I knew that I had plenty of time to eat on the way. I hit my first red light and began eating my first pancake when I heard a screeching behind me and a nasty crunch as someone rear-ended me.

I felt two pieces of shrapnel go through my forearms and sharp spikes slice through my seat and into my shoulder blades. I can hear myself screaming in the real world but I can't seem to get out of the dream it's almost as if someone wants to keep me in the dream. So I am stuck in a half-dream state and I can hear Hiccup yelling at me to shut up, but I can't. Suddenly I am sucked back fully into the dream and a red wash completely covers my eyes. I hear a deep, rumbling voice that seems to emanate from everywhere. His voice was so loud that it felt like I was being hit in the stomach at every word.

"You are a fool to defy me. Your girl has already broken and once she is healed she will lead the dragons to great victory. You will be able to do nothing to stop it. Why don't you just give yourself up and I will kill you quickly and painlessly. Come on the ships that are leaving for the dragons and then I will know that you have made the right choice. I expect to see you then."

I immediately pop back into the real world and notice two things: that my arms and shoulders no longer hurt, and that it is eerily silent. I look around and see Hiccup staring at me with a worried look that had some fear in it, as if he just saw the ghost of a friend and couldn't decide if he should be scared or sad.

"What are you looking at?"

He just points at the air above my shoulders and I crane my neck to try and see what he is pointing at. I almost scream bloody murder, which would be slightly more embarrassing than what I actually do. Instead of screaming all that I get out is a little whimper. I turn my head to the other side so fast I crack my neck five times, yep there is one on my left shoulder as well. I think for a moment and then look down at my arms. Like my shoulders there is a lot of blood, but that isn't what I am whimpering about. I can't see anything different about my arms but I know that something must have changed, because connected to my shoulders are wings.

These aren't white fluffy chicken wings either; these are paper-light, scale-covered dragon wings. I reach up to touch one and for a second I don't feel a thing, then after my brain figures out how to feel and control something that, as far as it knows, isn't even there, I feel my hand on the wing, my wing. It is rough from all of the scales and as I run my hand from the inside out I feel it unfold and watch as the thin material expanded from where it used to be, compacted against my back. What must be the arm of the wing spread out from my back and unfolds from its three joints that allow it to compact and retract with ease. I completely unfold them and force the fingers of the wings to expand. They are at least eight feet long on either side of my body and down to my waist.

"Well, this is certainly an interesting gift. She might have made it slightly less painless but no pain no gain right. I wonder how I am going to hide them…"

First I use the fingers on my wings to shrink down the width of the wing, and then fold the main bone till it rests close enough to my back so that no one will notice, as long as I have a shirt on. Since I have my wings figured out I focus on my arms. I peel back the sleeves and notice a thin black line about a foot long on my arm. I pick at it and successfully grab it and find that it is made of the same material that my wings are made of. Again it takes a few seconds for my brain to connect to the neurons that just appeared and I eventually feel my hand grabbing it. I figure that these are a sort of fin and begin moving them in and out from their place flat on my arms to fully extended. They reach four inches at their highest point and taper down in a half ellipse. I run my hands along the edge and am surprised when blood begins to flow down the edges. I look at my hands and see the neat cut that my fin had made.

"Holy crap, these are freaking sharp. These could be nasty weapons if I get up close to someone."

I look up at Hiccup and see him still standing there with his mouth open. It seems like he hasn't yet grasped his mind around the fact that I am covered in my own blood, and have wings sprouting out of my shoulders and fins out of my arms. He suddenly jumps back and gives a short yell, and then he starts laughing. Denial, check, fright, check, hysteria, check. I may have skipped over some of them, but the important ones were out of the way. Hiccup had gained control of his mouth but he couldn't seem to get any words out. I rose up and walked over to him quickly and punched him in the stomach.

"Breathe buddy, just breathe."

"Thanks Shade, I needed that. So wings, yea, guess I shouldn't be surprised. First a voice in my head and then an actual person and now a person with dragon wings and fins. Now that we are both awake, and the extra bed is nice and bloody, let's get you cleaned up and ready for dragon training.

"Wait, I'm coming with you?"

"What else are you going to do?"

"Get cleaned up and find a new long sleeved shirt for one."

"Alright then, you can clean up and then we can go to the arena. I'll just say that you are a distant cousin of mine that came over to learn how to fight dragons for his colony."

"It won't work."

"You overestimate the intelligence of the others in Berk. Just get cleaned up and dressed and I will take care of the rest."

"Alright, whatever you say."

**A/N- I'm sorry the story is going on so slowly but this will probably be the last scene that I make up out of my head for a while. So look forwards to the plot actually moving forwards in time instead of being stuck in the 24 hours that I have written so far. And please review so I can make this story better. If you don't review I can't know what you want or what I am doing wrong…any review at this point would be appreciated.**

**Summary- Shade and Hiccup on the first day of dragon training, and Shade's introduction to the rest of the teens on Berk.**


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